CANDOR — The former mayor of the Village of Candor in Tioga County has been sentenced to two months in jail for his theft of more than $23,500 in village funds. Eric Halstead, who was Candor’s mayor from 2012 until he resigned shortly after his arrest in July 2024, pled guilty on Jan. 10 to […]
CANDOR — The former mayor of the Village of Candor in Tioga County has been sentenced to two months in jail for his theft of more than $23,500 in village funds.
Eric Halstead, who was Candor’s mayor from 2012 until he resigned shortly after his arrest in July 2024, pled guilty on Jan. 10 to grand larceny in the third degree.
New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and the New York State Police Superintendent Steven James announced Halstead’s sentencing on April 14. Halstead was sentenced before Judge Adam R. Schumacher in Tioga County Court. As part of his sentence, he is barred from running for public office ever again. His guilty plea also required Halstead to pay full restitution.
“Halstead was elected to serve his community but chose instead to steal from it,” DiNapoli said in the announcement. “He now faces the consequences of his crime. Public corruption does lasting damage to people’s confidence in the institutions that exist to serve them.”
Halstead’s crime was uncovered when unusual entries referring to ATM withdrawals and a “Mayor’s discretionary fund” were found in the Village of Candor’s records. A subsequent investigation by DiNapoli’s office and law enforcement determined that Halstead stole $23,519 in village funds from February 2017 to May 2023. At random intervals he put money back into the village’s accounts totaling $19,302.
“The sentencing of Mr. Halstead demonstrates the vital collaborative work of our law enforcement partners focused on the same goal; holding those who break our laws accountable. The victims in this case are the people of New York who put their trust in the former village of Candor Mayor. I commend our State Police members, our partners at the Comptroller’s Office and Tioga County District Attorney’s Office for their commitment to investigating those who prey on the unsuspecting public for their own gain,” State Police Superintendent James said in the announcement.
